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"Final stop, Blade! Look at all the plushes!" Silver Wolf exclaimed, a little too eager for someone her age, Blade thinks to himself before removing his eyes from his phone. He glances around uninterestingly at the dozen claw machines surrounding the two of them, and Silver Wolf doesn't even hesitate for a second before scampering to the nearest claw machine, eagerly eyeing a baby blue machine filled with Sanrio plush toys. "This white rabbit is so adorable... Pass me ten tokens."
"Ugh, how did I end up here again..." Blade mutters to himself as he hands over a small lump of silver tokens to the equally-silver haired girl. But he meant it rhetorically, because of course he knew how he ended up in this exact moment. "And you know these claw machines are just a scam, right?"
"Oh quit pretending you didn't have fun earlier, Blade. You also love Kafka too much to ditch me now. Otherwise, you'd never have tagged along." Silver Wolf teases, still paying full attention to the grey claw descending and grabbing ahold of Cinnamoroll's right ear. "They're not a scam if you get lucky~" She adds.
He idly watches her and sighs. Yes, Kafka was the one who purposely sent Blade alone to accompany Silver Wolf for this trip to the arcade. Or at least it felt like it was on purpose. "I won't be free, I have a private meeting with Elio tomorrow." Kafka's voice from yesterday rings in his head like a fresh reminder. "I know you both get along better than you make it out to be in front of me. It would do my sweethearts some good if my dear Silver and Bladie had more moments together. Don't you two think so, too?" Kafka's soothing voice and sweet endearments drive him crazy sometimes; he still has trouble admitting it. Even if she's teasing him. She knows exactly what she does, and honestly, he can't get enough of it-
"Uurrrhhh, these claws are stubborn." Silverwolf groans quietly, snapping him out of his trance. She slowly turns to grab Blade's wrist, and she then walks him to another claw machine.
This one is light pink, but is filled with all sorts of soft toys that seem to be anything but pink or cute. Quite the contrast to what she was eyeing earlier.
"Aeons…" Blade begins. "You sure you want to try this one? All of these…are…"
"Don't continue that sentence. They look stupid in a good way~ If you find it hard to appreciate stuff that look a little different, you can just say so." Silver Wolf interrupts him defensively. "Or you can just say you prefer basic cute stuff. It's not a crime." She teases him again before inserting four subsequent tokens.
He watches her staring at some of the dull toys in the machine like her life absolutely depended on obtaining them. Blade wonders how Kafka would react to this. In goes one token, then in goes another token, but she ended up failing four times to grab a hold of anything inside the machine. Blade starts internally cringing; isn't this as good as burning money? He half-wishes Kafka was here to knock some sense into her, though Silver Wolf was supposed to enjoy the arcade games and unwind herself now. They already burnt through a few dollars worth of games, so how bad could some attempts at claw machines be, right?
But Silver Wolf didn't really look like she was having a great time at this moment. Unable to get anything again, she sighs tiredly, but not in defeat. "Last one, Blade. Follow me."
She stops directly in front of a white claw machine, which sits at the end of the lineup on their right. This machine contains many of the same kind of white owls. They all have the same cap, the same blue coat, and the same pair of bright eyes staring eerily into one's soul. Silver Wolf seems to find them delightful.
Entirely unamused now, Blade pulls up his phone to message Kafka. He likes messaging her for mundane things, but this time he just felt like complaining about the Silver girl. 'Save me,' He sends. 'I thought burning through fifteen dollars worth of games was enough. Now we've thrown away eight dollars of tokens for claw machines. Please convince me not to demand for a refund right now.'
Kafka responds pretty quickly with a giggling emoji. He exhales tiredly.
"Blade, I think I finally caught one." Silver Wolf smiles, leaning closer to the machine while she enthusiastically keeps her eyes on the prize to make sure she's guaranteed it to herself.
Blade looks up momentarily, and the darn owl really is almost at the edge of the hole. He and Silver Wolf stare intently at the owl.
It slips.
It slips a little further down.
But alas, the owl swings and its torso bounces off the edge, back into the pit with the rest of its furry friends. Silver Wolf grunts in exasperation and looks down at the final token in her palm. "Gosh, I don't even feel like it's worth spending this last one." She utters disappointedly.
And as if on cue, Kafka responds to Blade's text messages again.
"Bladie, it's okay. That's small money, so as long as she had fun, dont fret over it. If you still have more, why not help her win something? I always thought those claw machines were entertaining."
He stares at the message for a little longer, his train of thought getting lost.
Then, without really thinking much of it, he looks up to Silver Wolf. "...Hey, you want a plush, right?"
Silver Wolf pouts a little, saying nothing in response. But Blade has known her for long enough — the word 'Yes' was practically written all over her face. He exhales and says, "Give me the token."
"Are you sure? It's fine, really..." Silver Wolf begins, but Blade is already gripping the joystick and moving it with careful precision. She simply stares at him and the claw with anxiousness and a sprinkle of anticipation.
He can't believe he's seriously doing this for her. The initial plan was to let her bask in the time and use up all the tokens herself. Silver Wolf wanted to come to this arcade in the first place because the games here couldn't be found at any other arcade in the planet, and this arcade was having a massive discount on tokens. Kafka urged Blade to accompany Silver Wolf — Kafka was a little bashful regarding her lack of gaming skills. As if that made Blade any better at arcade games, though…
But claw machines seemed to be an exception. He picked up the same owl that Silver Wolf was targeting earlier. The claw firmly grips its head this time, and the owl doesn't even dangle as it falls out.
"No way...That's not fair, did you cheat or something?" She looks at him skeptically before reaching under to pull the fluffy owl out.
"Wow, not even a 'thank you' ?"
"I'm just confused, I am THE claw machine expert ever! How did I fail every single time, while you looked like you didn't even try?"
I actually DID try, Blade thinks to himself. But it really felt a little too easy to be true. Like the claw miraculously had a firmer grip.
Silver Wolf looks at the plush owl he just won for her, and a small smile unknowingly creeps up her face. "I'm going to name it Blade Jr."
"Oh Aeons, please do not."
But before Silver Wolf could poke fun at Blade any further, foreign footsteps could be heard edging closer towards them. But their guard is let down when the voice they hear next is all too familiar:
"Congratulations, Silver. I think Blade Junior looks adorable." Kafka purrs, and she winks at them.
Now, Blade is incredibly thankful for the white face mask he's wearing. Otherwise, Kafka would definitely make fun of him even more at how much of a blushing mess he's turned into.
"Kafka!" Silver Wolf exclaims, smiling even more now, but her excitement morphs into shock. "I thought you couldn't make it?"
"I may have lied a little. Sorry, darlings. I'll tell you both the much-deserved truth now that I'm feeling well amused."
Silver Wolf and Blade, being incredibly confused, attentively listen to the following explanation.
"First of all, Apologies, Silver. You naturally would have been able to win some of the toys on your first attempt. I actually tinkered with every machine you touched."
"...Huh. No wonder. Knew I didn't randomly start to suck that bad. Why, though?"
"My motive was to get our dear Bladie here to aid you a little. I...thought you two could grow a little closer if he felt the need to help. Even with something as simple as winning a prize from a claw machine." Kafka looks away, feeling uncharacteristically and vulnerably timid.
"Kaf…"
"Okay, I'm guessing you also tampered with the claw when I started controlling the joystick." Blade says, secretly feeling upset he wasn't as good at claw machines as he thought he was.
"Oh, you sure connected the dots quickly." Kafka responds, smirking. "Too many tokens were spent, Blade Jr is much deserved."
"Stop calling it that…" He turns around, feeling embarrassed. She smiles in response.
Silver Wolf giggles at the two of them, and gives Kafka a tight hug. "I'll go to the washroom for a bit. Hold Blade Junior for me."
"With pleasure." Kafka responds cheekily as the silver haired girl leaves their sight momentarily. Blade and Kafka are now left alone with each other — something Blade is willing to tolerate after a long day of what felt like watching over a younger sister.
"Kafka," He glances at her, and removes his shades. "You could have told me you had eyes on us the entire time. I still don't get why you chose to do what you did."
"Mmm… Because I can." She responds with a smile and raised eyebrows.
"...It was unnecessary."
"I simply wanted to see how my favourite pair get along with each other when I'm not around." Kafka turns to face him. "When was the last time you two chose to hang out with each other alone?"
"Why would we need to? We're just friends, or co-workers of some sort if we're looking at the bigger picture." He says pessimistically.
She frowns. "Don't put it like that. As stellaron hunters, we need to form deeper bonds with each other — to trust each other more. We're risking our lives almost everyday; I think we should be grateful for each waking moment where we aren't busy running around to make ridiculous escapades."
Blade could detect the lightheartedness in her tone, but there was also sadness lingering behind.
Without thinking twice, for the second time today, he turned to her as he placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry about us too much. You know I'm not the best at expressing my feelings, but I care about Silver. She's dear to me just as she is to you. When the time comes, I'll do everything in my power to make sure nobody lays a single finger on her." He removes his hand from her shoulder, and breathes in and out, hoping Silver Wolf is still in the bathroom. He smiles a little, and he knows Kafka can tell from the slight shift in his eyes. "...Relax a little."
Kafka is silent for a moment when she takes in Blade's response. All the while, she maintains eye contact with him. He usually finds prolonged eye contact invasive, but with Kafka? It's so different. She's his home.
"Bladie," She purrs his nickname. "You're a big softie~" She cups his right cheek with one hand in a tender manner. "My softie."
And she leans in slightly to kiss him. Albeit his mask was still on, but Kafka definitely got the memo across. Blade isn't sure whether to count this as their first kiss, but he's incredibly flustered all the same.
Sadly, the moment doesn't last too long when Silver Wolf starts speaking out loud out of the blue. "Woooooah, you both need to get a room." She blurts out, taking the plush back from Kafka's hand.
Kafka laughs. Blade looks away a little bashfully. The two girls begin to walk ahead as they chat about something, while he puts on his shades again, and quietly follows behind absent-mindedly.
Today was certainly eventful. Taking into consideration his low social battery, Blade has to admit that going out with Silver Wolf today surprisingly felt quite refreshing. But Kafka, oh Kafka, she still lingers in his mind. He'll surely have to chat with her later — about what they are now. Though, maybe it'll flow naturally. He'll be okay with anything, as long as he gets to be with the two of them for a long time.
( AUTHOR'S NOTE: THANK YOU FOR READING UNTIL HERE! tbh i was gonna extend the ending after silver got out of the washroom lol, but prolonging the end would make it feel more off, i think... i still don't want to discard what i wrote; thought the dialogue was a little funny and corny in a good way, so here is an extra scene for you guys ))
"Hey, about earlier," Kafka begins. "You interrupted our moment with our son, you know?" She jokes.
"Your son? Blade literally won him for me, pretty sure that makes him my son." Silver Wolf jokes back.
"It's named after Blade, that legally makes it his child. You are simply keeping it hostage." Kafka and Silver Wolf share a giggle.
Blade starts feeling second-hand embarrassment. "I'm pretty sure it doesn't work like that. You two need to leave me out of this."
Silver fakes a scoff. "How could you?! You are the estranged uncle I have awe-inspiringly named my son after. Kafka and I are busy women, we need another wife in the house to help care for the child." She and Kafka burst into laughter.
"Yes... It'd be a shame if Blade Junior was deprived of its… uncle? Erm, other mother? Wait…" Kafka trails off.
"This family is so weird, I'm done." Blade gets up and leaves quietly. The girls giggle more, clearly finding amusement in his lack of patience.
But once they stop, Silver's expression goes blank. "Kafka, I'm still confused over your reasoning for interfering when we attempted the claw machines."
"Don't think too hard about it, Silver. I have my ways of looking out for you both. A little weird, I'll admit, I was testing you both in a way."
"...What if he never chose to help?"
"What?"
"Would you have still done something to help me win the toy?"
"...No."
Silver Wolf remains silent.
Kafka glances at Silver Wolf. "You know why? Because no way would Blade have not chosen to help you at the last minute. He's so bad at expressing his feelings it's almost hilarious, but he really does care for you, Silver. I just know that if there's two things he hates to see in this world, it's your frown and my frown. He really willingly went out of his way to make you feel happy again."
Silver Wolf looks at Kafka momentarily, then looks back down to the floor.
"Do you not have any other questions?"
"I do, actually. How the heck did you tamper with the machines? I mean, they're machines."
"Exactly. They're machines, do you not remember teaching me basic coding? The machines in the arcade are advanced, but that was what allowed me to force the claws to malfunction or to have a stronger grip." Kafka pats Silver's back. "I'm more surprised you didn't try to check why you kept failing."
"I was lazy. Also would have felt bad if I cheated."
Kafka laughs. "More or less, I still got to see both of you bonding over something. That alone makes me satisfied. Next time, I won't be secretive about it, I promise."
Silver wolf smiles at her response.
"Okay. Let's go see what Blade's up to."